Fed backhands Texas

Just a quick update on the attempt by the Dallas 'burb of Farmers Branch to require landlords verify citizenship before renting property. A federal judge has issued a restraining order against the city;

FARMERS BRANCH – A day before the city planned to start enforcing an ordinance banning apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants, a federal judge put a temporary stop to the plan, ruling that it "conflicts with federal law."

Legal experts said the ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay signals that the ordinance may face trouble in federal court despite Farmers Branch voters' overwhelming approval of it May 12. Federal courts have issued rulings stopping other cities from implementing similar laws.

Judge Lindsay, in a 20-page ruling granting a temporary restraining order, said Farmers Branch had wrongly used federal laws governing who receives housing subsidies to write its ordinance and had created its own classification system for determining which noncitizens may rent an apartment in the city.

"The court recognizes that illegal immigration is a major problem in this country, and one who asserts otherwise ignores reality," Judge Lindsay wrote. "The court also fully understands the frustration of cities attempting to address a national problem that the federal government should handle; however, such frustration, no matter how great, cannot serve as a basis to pass an ordinance that conflicts with federal law."

Of course, it wouldn't be a story about Texas politics without a bat-shit crazy Texas legislator saying something really stupid.

Farmers Branch City Council members criticized the judge for ignoring residents' approval of the ordinance, which would require apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500, and each day would be considered a separate violation.

"I am disappointed that the judge chose to ignore the will of the people," said City Council member Tim O'Hare, who proposed the ordinance. "However, I am hopeful ... the judge will not grant the preliminary injunction and allow us to enforce the ordinance as voted on by two-thirds of our residents."

City Concil member Tim O'Hare doesn't understand the concept of Federalism. In Texas, if they put public lynching to a vote, it would pass... and they'd be upset the fed put a halt to it.